If Brandon Roy wants the ball in his hands every time, then I don't see how Durant + Roy combination would have worked out.
I think he's a very good coach. Problem is the Blazers are so deep and they have players deserving of minutes at each position which I think is making Mcmillan's job more difficult. I'd love to quite a few Blazers on the Rockets. Aside from the untouchables Roy/Aldridge/Oden. I think Pryzbilla, Rudy Fernandez and Jerryd Bayless would all look good in Rocket Red.
roy is a play maker, not just a scorer. he wants to be the one with the ball in his hands. that's understandable, it doesn't mean he's gonna shoot it every time. could you imagine if someone told lebron "ill give you the ball when you get open."? these guys my be great scorers but they need the ball to make plays and really be at their best.
I think the problem is that there are two PG's who both want to run the offense. Trade Blake, start Miller. Then start Outlaw at the 3 and you're set.
Why in the heck does everybody think we can a superstar for that soft unathletic Battier? Talk about overrated.
When I watch portland play, I don't see a team that play to their strong points. Miller makes every one better including Roy. He would set oden up for easy dunks and layups and roy would benefit from being a catch and shoot guy sometimes. Blake shouldn't even be on the roster.
Morey is still waiting for that phone call from Pritchard, "Okay, Daryl, you win. Let's do it. Fernandez + Pryzbilla for Battier."
I predicted the Blazers would have it rough to start the season. It's going to take a while for them to settle into a routine. Miller has proven his value already and trading him would be a gigantic mistake. A Blake and Bayless rotation at PG is a guarantee of another 1st round exit in the playoffs. Blake just isn't good enough. The bigger problem IMO than Andre Miller is Greg Oden's emergence. He is making serious strides and it's knocked their offense out of the comfort zone from last season. When you have a donut offense with zero threat in the post (Przybilla), it forces all the other players to get more touches and scoring opportunities. Oden is starting to get touches in the post and he's getting better each game. This will take away touches from everyone else. Against the Grizzlies last night, Oden picked up 2 early fouls and played a total of 4 minutes in the 1st half. Last season, that meant he was going to be worthless the rest of the game. In the 3rd quarter against the Grizz, Oden was the difference-maker. He basically took over both ends of the floor. Marc Gasol quit trying to even score because anything the Grizz tried near the basket got blocked or the shot was altered. On the other end, Oden murdered them if they didn't double-team him quick enough. On one play, he actually spun to his right while guarded by Z-Bo, took two steps and threw down a jam. Nothing close to that happened last season. On another (sort of) fast break, he ran the floor and flushed an alley-oop from Miller. Roy and Aldridge are going to have to re-adjust to Oden's emergence on offense. Last year, Oden's presence on offense threw Aldridge completely off his game for about 20 games before he got used to having him on the floor. This year with Oden getting serious touches, both Roy and Aldridge must adjust to a reduced number of shots. I will be very disappointed if Roy keeps making a stink about it because this is what must happen for the Blazers to contend. A perimeter based offense will only take you so far. Roy and LA will have to sacrifice their touches for the good of the team and adjust to a reduced burden. It's going to take time and McMillan is still trying to figure it out like everyone else. But the bottom line is adding Miller and the improved Oden is what the Blazers need to make the next level. leebigez, you hit the nail on the head, but I'm not ready to say Blake should be off the roster just yet. He's a "glue guy" on that team and has everyone's respect even though he isn't a good player. As the season progresses, his role should shrink as Miller and Rudy perform more PG duties in their 1/2 court offense.
My thoughts exactly. Just didn't have time to go as in depth as you did. Oden really is showing some signs of life. I think he's building confidence each game and starting to realize what he's capable of doing. Winning cures everything. Once Nate gets the rotations right and Blazers start rolling things will be just fine and Roy will be happy.
They have duplicity at all of the perimeter positions. One of Webster/Fernandez should go. One of Batum/Outlaw should go. (Obviously Batum's injured so there's less pressure here for now, but once he comes back that cuts minutes for outlaw and Webster/Fernandez who slide over to the SF position at times) One of Blake/Bayless/Miller should go. Blake does suck, but he complements Roy well. He can bring up the ball and stay out of the way so Roy can do his thing, while waiting for the catch-n-shoot. I think history has pretty much showed that if you have a dynamic playmaking wing player then your PG needs to be able to play off the ball. Jordan had BJ.Armstrong/Ron.Harper Kobe has Fisher even LeBron has Mo.Williams/Boobie Blake's problems lie in his defense and in the fact that he provides absolutely nothing if his shot isnt falling for him. I'm glad Bayless is getting a little bit of time because he looked like he could play in college and the summer league. If he turns out to be a keeper then their backcourt will be set for the next decade or so.
I caught last few minutes of 1st half of the T-Wolves re-match. Oden is already at 12/10 with zero fouls. I don't remember him ever playing significant minutes like that without fouling. Not bad. I also noticed that Roy is deliberately not shooting the ball. He passed over wide open shots on several occasions. That is truly weird. I hope nothing is going on.
Im glad you posted this. I was just about to do the same, until I realized that DD must be joking. I mean he clearly has gone on record saying he does not want a player who "dominates" the ball. Brandon Roy's style of play is not conducive to winning, thus the first round exit Plus, attaining Roy would just take away shots from Budinger, we wouldnt want that would we? To top it off, Roy is now complaining about touches How dare he put himself above the team. The kind of player the Rockets need...I think not!!! Clearly DD was joking. Anyways, this news is a little surprising. I got to say though, while watching the Houston vs Portland game on The Portland feed, I did catch something that made me go hmmmn. When Miller first checked into the game, Roy walked up to him and said something. Miller didnt seem to acknowledge and just stared off into the distance. I thought to myself "They must not like each other" I dont know why I thought that but I did for some reason.
But Roy wants to hold the ball and have more touches...doesn't that conflict with your ball hog policy?
I've talked about cleaning up the roster before with teams. The blazers are definitely a team that needs to do it. There is 96 mins at the swing spot and Roy is going to get 35. That leaves 61 for 3 guys,but outlaw,fernandez,and webster should all play 25-30 mins a night. That's not including Batum in the mix either. Since outlaw is in the last yr, he will probably get moved . The pg situation is pretty easy. Steve Blake is not a starter on a championship team and miller is a top pg in the league. Bayless is the future and has been playing lately. If u look at miller's contract, it buys the blazers 2 yrs tgo develop bayless. If it were me, as soon as I signed miller, I wouldve traded blake for a 2nd rd pick and let roy be the 3rd pg which is what he is anyway.Mark my words, if nate doesn't make a deep playoff run, he will get fired and it will be coaches lining up interview for that job. The rockets better watch the adelman contract situation also. If nate gets fired and adelman doesn't have a contract, he might go back to portland.
